Checking Up on Myself

One simply cannot set goals unless one also intends to keep track of the progress one makes (or is not making) towards achieving said goals. Right?

Right! So, I thought that I would, for your reading pleasure, take a minute and look at how this paycheck has practically vanished before my eyes, I mean ... was spent responsibly.

OK, so this might not be pretty, but no progress can be made unless I take the time to look at the system, identify the problems and then march on. And also, posting it for other people to read and shake their heads at helps too. It's motivation so that one day I can write a blog post about how I made a plan for myself and then stuck to it. And the day that happens will hopefully also be the day that I have $10,000 in a bank account somewhere. We all need to have a dream, people.

Alright, so, here it is. My Almost Mid-Week Goal Check Up #1:
{ta-da!}

1. Think of a new word that means the same as "budget"
• Check. It's my Not-A-Budget Treasure Map. I made it, it's pretty cool. I tried to use it last night. It was confusing and didn't work well. Modifications to the design are needed.
  
2. Find a way to stop the money hemorrhage that is my bank account
• Um ... this didn't happen. Better luck next time!
• Part of this has to do with money that is sitting in my bank account waiting for a check to be cashed that I forgot was waiting for the check to be cashed, because I didn't have it written down before I sat down to start moving my money around to it's various savings accounts (related: the fail that was goal #4)
  
3. Create consequences for overspending; implement them as needed
• The consequences? I get to have a super lame time while everyone else frolics around with money sticking out of their ears because I seem to be the only person alive who can't stick to a freaking budget.
• {stops, takes a breath} Ok - so maybe that was an over-reaction.
  
• But seriously, if I have no money, the consequence is to spend nothing until my next paycheck (I may or may not have already had to do this).
  
4. Determine savings goals; devise a realistic plan to achieve said goals
• I have the savings goals. It's the realistic part that I'm having an issue with.
  
• This is actually the part of the Not-A-Budget Treasure Map that was confusing and caused problems (related: the fail that was goal #2)
  
5. Be crafty without destroying my financial house of cards
• So far so good in this area.
  
• Although there is a fabric store that's right next to the apartment and they are having a sale, and everyday I have to drive past the signs that say Fabric Sale in really big, bold, friendly letters that make the very fiber of my being vibrate with thoughts of the beautiful things that I would make with all the sale fabric that I would get (right now I have quilts on the brain. And freezer paper transfers. And quilts with freezer paper transfers on them. Oh the crafting!)
• When I'm not being a crazy sale fabric coveting weirdo, I've been knitting my sweater and working on the Not-A-Budget Treasure Map Atlas and Captain's Log (although I think my progress is going to have to slow down a little until I figure out how the damn thing works. Because I know it does because I will make it so help me God. I just have to figure out how.)
  

So there you have it. The picture is pretty bleak right now. But I take comfort in cliche sayings like "It's always darkest before the dawn", "It can only get better from here", "Money can't buy you happiness" and "It could be a lot worse".

And it could be a lot worse, I only have one credit card that I use (care credit for all the vet's visits we've been going to lately. However, I have been working extra hard to not let this balance go crazy), I pay my bills on time, I have a plan to try and make things better, and I'm sure that sometime soon I will get this all figured out.

One Year? Really?

As of today, this little blog is officially "one whole twirl around the sun" old. One year. Wow.

To be 100% honest, I'm a little surprised that this hasn't faded into the background the way that 90% of the things I start do. And for a while there, it did look like it was going to fade. But then ... NO! ... There she is!

It's all very exciting, don't you think?

Also, if you are interested in reading my very first post ever, you can click right here. I don't know what it is about first posts, but I love to read them. I think it has something to do with the "awkward first letter syndrome" that is starting a blog. It's hard to jump in and just start doing it, you know? You feel obligated to write something about yourself, what you do in life, what you want to do with this little corner of the interwebs ...

Chances are, if I have ever read your blog, I have read your first post. And probably I sat there after wards and thought to myself, "Why couldn't my first post have been like that? Why do I fail at life SO HARD?" or something like that.

Wow. That was random and WAY off topic. Anyway. I would like to take a second and just say Thank You to all the lovely people who take the time to read this blog on a semi-regular basis (Hi Taryn and Lisa!). I'm not going to lie, when you guys comment on my posts I do a happy dance. And then I tell Armini all about you and how cool you are and where you live. Then we read your blogs together.

I would also like to take this time to ask you, what would you like to read more of here? Obviously, I am going to be spending more time on the Not-A-Budget Treasure Map idea (update on that nonsense: I think I finally figured out how to work it!). I know that the "ask me and I will tell all" posts seem to be going around the blog-o-sphere like the plague, but I really would like your input. Because I am not above bribing you for comments I value your opinions.

And just to be clear, these are topics you would like me to cover (or cover more than I already have?). Not so much a place to be all like "I would really like it if you could start budgeting and not be in debt anymore", because obviously I'm working on that (helloooo Not-A-Budget Treasure Map!).

And in the coming year, I promise to be awesome your BFF stop leaving the empty ice cream carton in the freezer to work on that "budget thing" and continuing to write stuff where I don't whine all the time.

Love,
Super Careo

PS - And also Ashley, even though she has posted like all of 5 times on this thing. I'm sure that she would be impressed with the fact that this blog has been live for a year. Also, just in case you were wondering, she really did end up moving to California (like, 6 days ago).